Happy new year everyone, It's been a while since I posted last. so I have had this cpu for 2 years and got it second hand from ebay. The seller claimed it had been at stock with stock fan for 5 years and never gone above 60c. So now I have the 2600k running at 5ghz HT on @1.416v (1.404v full load) with a temp of 66c and had no degrading from what I can see. I was running 4.8ghz for 1.38v (1.368v full load) with a temp of 62c. do you guys think 66c (72c in the summer) at 5ghz for 1.416v would be good for another year at least?

My rule was below 60C if possible but not above 70C. I haven't overclocked in a while just because I don't have a reason to.

That processor could run a day or 10 years, there is no way to know.

I am taking it those temps are at full load. Maybe turn up your cooling solution in the summer a bit if it starts to creep past 72C but I would not be too worried as I read the max on that chip is like 98C but people report problems with glitches/performance/crashes/etc once you get into the mid-high 70's.

Make sure the VRM's are not overheating. They can also heat up the MOBO around them and transfer more heat to the CPU, so if you lower the VRM's temps the CPU heat will also more likely be lower. I would also not go above 60C. I still have the 2500K @ 4.5Ghz and am happy with the performance. I used to upgrade every 2 years but said no when retarded Intel quit soldering the HSF to the die, making cooling of OC'd CPU's almost impossible.

Currently my res/pump are at full speed 4000rpm and my rad fan ML Pro 120 are at 2000rpm until they hit 50c then jump up slowly to 2400rpm. Will be linking my res/pump to pwm so I sit at 3000rpm until 50c then slowly ramp up to 4000rpm.

the reason I ended up getting the sandy instead of another ivy, after my last one started to fail on me and overclock could barely reach 4ghz, is due to the better cooling thanks to the solder instead of the paste and the price of a 2600k was £100 where as a 3570k was £130 and the i7 3770K was £175. worth it upgrade from my 3570k.

So I'm at 4.6ghz at 1.296v as the only game I have that puts a nice load on my cpu @ 5Ghz is ARK. hitting 75% per thread load in heavy dino areas. Now getting 90% in same areas. but sitting happy most the time at 50%. Getting 56c full load and probs about 62c in the summer. happy with that until my cpu needs to be clock higher